PRIDE OF LIONS

Southgate celebrates FIVE years as England boss and despite World Cup and Euros success, his greatest achievement is making the players WANT to play and fans WANT to fall in love with his team

ONE half of football away from a World Cup final, one penalty shootout away from winning the Euros.

Even the minor thrill of getting to the UEFA Nations League finals.

All stellar, if bittersweet, moments in Gareth Southgate’s five-year tenure as the England manager, all high points in half a decade in the Impossible Job. But what does Southgate rank as his most notable achievements?

Making players WANT to play for England again and making people WANT to support England again. And he is right. When Southgate was asked to take emergency charge following Sam Allardyce’s unseemly one-match reign, you could sense he was not completely convinced. No wonder.

Eleven days ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Malta at Wembley, Southgate’s interim appointment was announced.

He recalled: “I’d only taken over temporarily but there were several players that weren’t interested in coming.

“I could remember at that time it was difficult to get players to come sometimes.

“Now, we had three lads who were called into the squad late and just couldn’t wait to be here.” After five years of

Southgate, the idea some players would not want to wear the jersey seems unthinkable.

But consider what happened in that 2-0 win over Malta.

Southgate played Wayne Rooney – albeit in an unusual defensive midfield role – and the captain was promptly booed by sections of the Wembley crowd.

It typified a weariness, cynicism and disillusionment that had become almost

ingrained in England fans. Southgate has changed that.

“There’s lots of fabulous memories,” he said.

“Individual games, tournaments, progression of players.

“But the most important thing has been the connection with the fans, the progression from the sort of apathy a few years ago to where we are now.”

Southgate’s contract runs until the end of World Cup 2022 and he is yet to sit down and discuss an extension.

And those talks will be inevitable as soon as England have negotiated the final stages of qualification, which resume with the formality in Andorra.

And while he will not commit to another five years, Southgate (right) insists he has his verve back after the crushing disappointment of the Euro 2020 final defeat.

“The tournaments take a lot out of you, there is no doubt about that,” he said.

“The emotions and the disappointment takes a lot out of you.

“But I feel as though, over the last few weeks, I have been able to move beyond that.

“The final itself will never leave you but the energy and the ability to look forward is certainly back.”

For that, both the players – who cannot speak highly enough of Southgate, on or off the record – and the fans will be thankful.

Because when it comes to those players and those supporters, Southgate has – as the song goes – made them whole again.